Installing a Dishwasher in Existing Cabinets

A dishwasher is must have kitchen appliance that every home should carry. It is very common for new homes to include them at time of purchase.

However, you may be surprised!

Older homes for the most part did not include the dishwasher at the time of the kitchen designing phase. This does not mean that you are limited. When there’s a will, there’s a way.

Installing a dishwasher in existing cabinets

There is only one stipulation when seeking to replace a cabinet space with a dishwasher, and the main key is size. That’s right pretty straight forward huh, alright lets get to it.

1. Finding the right height cabinet. When looking for the right size cabinet make sure that you have the correct height to begin with because if you have an older home your cabinet height may be very different. The normal necessary height for a dishwasher can be between 34 and 35 inches considering that the dish washer should include adjustable legs that twist clockwise or counterclockwise to decrease and increase height. There should be a leg on each corner of the dish washer. 
2. Wide enough opening. The standard opening of a dish washers range from 24 inches to 24.25 inches. It might be uncommon to find a kitchen cabinet with that exact width but no worries, we can be flexible with this step. Focus on finding the cabinet that measures at least 24.25 inches equal to or more than that. The reason why is because if you have a bigger opening then you can use color matched fillers to close in the gaps evenly on both sides of your space.
3. Removing Cabinet. The fun part is removing the cabinet in the way, if all goes well you should be able to remove with out damaging the adjacent cabinets. Simply go the back wall and remove the screws that are holding the cabinet to the studs on your home wall. Then seek and remove the screws that are tied to the face frame going to the cabinet or filler beside it. The final part is getting the toe kick trim piece out of the way , found in the bottom behind shoe molding simply cut out with straight to be flush with ends of adjacent cabinets.
4. Countertop Support Cleat. Once you have the correct height and width then you will need to add 2 support pieces. The first piece must be at the very least 3 quarters or 1 inch in thickness and you lay it across the back wall up top to provide additional countertop support so the weight is carried by that cleat. Make sure you predrill before you screw that cleat to your studs.
5. Dishwasher Support Skirt. This support trim must be placed upfront alongside the face frames of the adjacent cabinets. It is highly recommended to keep as thin as half an inch so you may have to rip it down to length. You install this thin trim skirt by nailing to the top inner sides of the adjacent cabinet face frames so the piece should be the same length as your opening. Also add a heavy duty adhesive or clear silicone to the top side of the skirt that will be up against the bottom to the countertop for extra strength. What is the dishwasher skirt used for? The skirt is for providing the dishwasher support to keep it from tilting forward. The dishwasher tends to lean forward when you open the door completely and with additional weight it is more likely to be a tilting over hazard. So to prevent this issue the dishwasher comes with 2 brackets above it so you can screw them onto the skirt with small half inch or 3/8th screws.
6. The best location. The most ideal place to have your dishwasher is right next to your kitchen sink for easy handling of plates from one spot to the other. Either the left or right side also depends on how easy it will be add a water line and electrical cord for power. Also the dishwasher will need to have access to a drain pipe.
7. Do you need a dishwasher panel. If it just so happens and you do not have an adjacent cabinet next to the one you removed then you will need a dishwasher end panel that is color matched to your kitchen. You can order this piece individually if you can find a good match. The thing is that most kitchens are aged differently so the finish will be hard to replicate on a new piece. So the second option is to take apart the cabinet you removed and carefully disassemble the wall panel for the side that you need. The only thing holding the cabinet together should be nail/staples and some form or glue. Release the panel from all the touching components. Next cut the face frame vertically from top to bottom at least 1.5 inches wide and leave that section attached to the panel. There you go! Now just add some back support for the wall and lower support so you can anchor that corner to the floor. What a way to finish this project this up.

Take Away

Main Questions:

Can you add a dishwasher to an old kitchen?

Yes, simply take the space of a cabinet because it needs to be under the countertop and next to the sink for easy fix and better function.

Do you need a plumber to install a dishwasher?

Depends, are you comfortable with changing the P-trap on your sink to add a dishwasher connection. They are simply screw on caps and the dishwasher hose is a clamp on so you need no special tools but some channel lock pliers, or any pliers with a wide enough mouth on them.

We hope this helped you solve your problem and if there are any questions that you would like for us to help out with please feel free to reach out to us. We may not have all the answers but we do have a solid construction background related to kitchen cabinetry and more. Check out our channel and tell us which is your favorite video. Thanks for welcoming us onto your screens and we will see you in the next one.

Cheers!